My body is my problem, my greatest joy,
My torment, my project, my most prized possession.
Something I fight with, withholding it fuel- leaving the tank
Empty and sputtering for oil.
I love it, I jeer at it, I starve it- let my ribs
Poke through and
Fat melt through my skin and out of me,
Like was through cloth.
Sometimes I cherish it, show it off as if I were
A delicate chandelier,
Rosy glass and sweet, soft light.
Sometimes I let it be seen by hungry eyes, then snatch it
Away.
My body, my prop,
My eternal companion.
Chloe Parekh is a sophomore at Saint Ann’s in Brooklyn, New York. Last summer she attended Bard College Young Writer’s Workshop and the Interlochen Intensive Novel Writing Program. During Summer 2023, she attended Oxford Summer Courses in Philosophy. She is a recipient of Scholastic Art & Writing ’25 Gold and Silver Keys in both Poetry and Painting. Her poetry has appeared in Apprentice Writer (Spring ’25), the Young Writer’s Anthology (Boston, Spring ’24), American High School Poets ’24, and Poetic Power: A Celebration of Poets ’24. Her poem ‘Summertimes’ won the ‘Once Upon a Dream’ Award from Young Writers USA. She will attend The Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop this summer and the Polyphony Lit Summer Editing Apprenticeship. When not writing poetry, she enjoys spending time with friends, taking long walks and exploring her surroundings and drawing at home in Brooklyn.